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Board approves Veterans Monument criteria revisions, adds standard plaque and stone sizes
Summary
After several years of stakeholder meetings and public comment, the Board approved changes to El Dorado County's Veterans Monument criteria including residency language, types of honoraria, and an appeal process; the vote included a modification to require standard plaque and stone sizes.
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved revised criteria governing the county Veterans Monument, adopting recommendations from the Veterans Affairs Commission and adding board-directed language requiring standard sizes for memorial plaques and granite stones.
Health and Human Services staff told supervisors the revision process began after a 2021 appeal about plaque placement and has included public meetings, an online survey, multiple Veterans Affairs Commission reviews, and ad hoc stakeholder sessions. Staff identified four principal areas of disagreement among veterans and the public: residency eligibility, types of memorial honoraria, the definition of “hero” for eligibility for an honor wall plaque, and the appeal process.
The Veterans Affairs Commission recommended residency language that would allow placement for a “resident or former resident of El Dorado County or a veteran who was a friend or family member of a current or former El Dorado County resident.” The commission also recommended adding “stones” to the list of allowable honoraria (alongside bricks, benches and plaques), and recommended an appeal process that routes objections first to the Veterans Affairs Commission, which would then forward a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for final action.
Staff and commissioners emphasized a key procedural safeguard: honoraria shall not be installed until any objection or appeal period has expired and any required review is completed. County Veteran Service Officer Jonathan Brown said the office has been staffed to verify eligibility and will ensure residency checks are completed on applications.
The board discussed concerns raised in public comment about enforcement and about preserving the monument’s original intent. Dozens of veterans and veterans’ representatives spoke at the hearing. Some urged returning to the 2007 criteria and stronger enforcement; others urged a broader residency rule so living county residents could memorialize family or comrades who did not live in the county. Several speakers described the monument’s cultural importance and asked the county to finalize a clear, enforceable policy.
Supervisor comments reflected a desire to avoid a repeat of a prior contentious appeal and to ensure a fair, administrable process. The motion approved by the board adopted the Veterans Affairs Commission recommendation on the four disputed areas and included an amendment directing staff to add standard plaque dimensions and a standard size for granite stones (the application already includes plaque size thumbnails; the board directed that size be added to the formal criteria document). The motion passed 4-0 with Supervisor Lane absent.
What the changes do: The updated criteria formalize who can be memorialized, list allowable honoraria including stones, specify a definition of a veteran hero tied to federal definitions of awards (with a non-discretionary option available), and establish a tiered appeal process in which the Veterans Affairs Commission reviews objections before a final Board determination. They also require that no honorarium be installed until all appeal periods and reviews are exhausted.
Why it matters: The monument is a county-owned public memorial that has drawn strong feelings from veterans, families and residents. The board’s action aims to balance respect for the monument’s original purpose, administrability for county staff, and a transparent appeal path to reduce future board-level disputes.
